Domain: vmac.org
Stories and comments across the archive that link to vmac.org.
Comments · 12
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Legacy support exists via emulation.
Apple should offer legacy support back to Classic, at least, with full 68K/PPC support - there's a tremendous amount of excellent software that was never brought to OSX
Basilisk II does a really great job of supporting Classic MacOS 68k from MacOS 0.x to MacOS 8.1 and Sheepshaver is capable of supporting PPC MacOS 7.5.2 thru 9.0.4. If you want, there's even the vMac project and its more portable and actively developed spin off Mini vMac which allow you to emulate the old Apple Macintosh Plus...
What exactly is it you think is missing? -
MacOS
To run an old version of MacOS, you can use vMac:
http://www.vmac.org/
You'll also need a Mac ROM file and a disk image with the MacOS version you'd like to run, but you should be able to find those as well.
I don't have version 1.0, but I do have version 1.1. -
Ahh, memories...
BBS'es and slow modems... I once spent an hour and a half downloading a 1.5MB DOS game from a local BBS with a 2400 baud modem. I felt horribly behind the times, because a "modern" 9600 baud would have done it in only a little over 20 minutes. And today, I can do that in less time than it takes for me to sneeze. I also remember the Internet being an almost unobtainable thing, just because of the lack of ISPs with local numbers in my state (Colorado).
Old Macs were pretty cool. I remember getting a lot of enjoyment out of that 512x384 B&W screen. Things like Hypercard, ResEdit, and Appletalk games bring back memories. It sure blew the boring PC's of the time out of the water. It was pretty neat to get software for my PC to read 1.4MB Mac floppies, but I had to wait a few more years for the Macintosh emulators to let me run those old games on my PC. I was actually so anxious for that that I wrote the Win32 port of vMac. -
Some legacy Mac apps, for nostalgia
Dark Castle.
Bolo.
Early versions of MacWrite/MacPaint.
Fool's Errand (and its sequels).
NetTrek 3.
Zork.
Or anything that used to be shipped on a 400k, 800k or 1.4mb floppy(ies). Photoshop 1.0, QuickTime 1.0...
Etc., etc.
For those who grew up on Macs, these have nostalgic meaning. It would be nice to be able to run them, on a whim. I know it must seem silly, but I was a nerdy kid and spent a lot of my life on Macs and promoting Macs ;)
Hopefully there will be an emulation solution for this stuff. I know that back when I was at college, people were using a Mac emulation environment on Wintel just to play Snood (which has since gotten a Wintel version). Perhaps that will get a new lease on life. I know there is a solution called vMac, but I don't think it's been updated in some time... -
Crystal QuestCrystal Quest was an AWESOME game. I wonder if anyone has ported or cloned it for OS X...
Not that I'm aware of but I have played it under OSX using vMac! Not quite as fun as the original -- it goes too damn fast -- but still brings back the old memories....
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Re:Umm, Paradox?
Why do you think people do simulations of computer systems instead of just implementing?
Because you can sometimes make a simulator that is better than the real thing.
LK -
Re:Macintosh File System
I've run it before on my G4 using vMac, the virtual 68k Mac emulator. It works. vMac is also cool if you ever want to play those old black and white games... Çrystal Quest, anyone?
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Re:Any non-flash emulators out there?
Yes - aside from the Classic environment, there are emulators that will play at being a pre-PPC mac and run software written for System 7 and below.
VMac runs under Classic.
There is also an OS X version of Basilisk.
The bad news is that for either of these to run System 7 or below, you need a 68k MacOS ROM - which you can't obtain legally except from your own 68k Mac (of course, IANAL). Oh, and you need a copy of the OS - but System 7 is available for download here. -
vMac
If he put an LCD display in, he could make it run vMac. That'd be neat.
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Games that OS 8 broke...Actually I'm most nostalgic for a game that's so old, System 6 broke it! I blew many an hour in college playing Lunar Rescue on a Mac SE... it's on Macworld columnist Chris Breen's list of Top Ten Mac games of all time, and nothing before or since has gotten the adrenaline pumping as much.
Does anyone else remember this game? Or better yet, does anyone know who the author was (so I can bug him to Carbonize it : ) or where I can download it for use with vMac?
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Just emulate
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Nothing to worry about
I recently received a message from some idiot claiming to report the vMac Project to "GNU Public License HQ" because our code is "sloppy". This guy was obviously an idiot because vMac isn't even under GPL, and we have a disclaimer saying that vMac is "use at your own risk" software (like many other free software projects.) I sent a pretty vulgar reply to the idiot, which clearly explained why he was an idiot. This was the only threat that we have ever received, so I don't think we (the Open Source community) have anything to worry about. Now, I'm just waiting for this idiot to try to threaten me about the Mace Project. The recently created Mace project is a LGPL compatibility layer similar to Wine, except that it brings Macintosh compatibility to Linux (and Windows, ick).